Game Guides

OnlineConsoles Forum Rules

Our Message Boards are different than other communities you may already visit. We try to foster quality game discussions within an organized and easy to read forum structure. You won't find spam, flamewars, or garbage topics here. Much of this is because of the great members we have at the site, but another key tool in shaping our posting environment are the forum rules. Please do take some time to read them over so you can better acclimate yourself to our community:

-Thank you, and enjoy your stay at OnlineConsoles.com

Information Notices are frequently sent out to members in order to help educate and inform about these rules, as well as any other aspect of the site. They are designed to be a communication tool. If you receive such a message, please read it carefully. Some are simple reminders and others notify of things such as moved threads.

Posting Guidelines

Please do not discuss other game consoles at the site

We have no offtopic forums for a reason. We try to encourage members to get involved with the 3 game consoles we cover. Everything at the DC site should be about the Dreamcast, and so on for the GameCube and Playstation 2 sites.

Note: The Wii, Playstation 3, or XBOX 360 may not be discussed on this website. Also, discussing "emulated games" on future-generation console platforms is not permitted. Which means if downloadable Dreamcast games are offered on another platform, they cannot be discussed here.

Please avoid asking "How many people play this online?"

OC is designed to help schedule matches for games that typical have very few players online. Asking how many people are on at any given time, implies you are only looking to play if there is a decent sized population awaiting you. You are looking for convenience, but playing classic consoles online requires extra effort.

There are plenty of active users willing to play, but not necessarily enough to populate each game on a consistant basis. That is why we have the OnlineConsoles website. In order to locate players you need to post in our Game Organization areas to setup game sessions. Persistance and patience pay off.

Avoid vague shorthand topic titles:

Do not create titles that just say, "Help..." or "I have a question..." or "You need to see this". These tell the reader nothing about the ongoing discussion. Please include information related to the body text of your thread. For example do not post a topic with the following text: "A question about controllers...". Instead, use your actual question about controllers for the topic title.

No threads about getting terminated games back online

The OnlineConsoles community areas exist specifically to help generate activity for existing online games, as well as celebrating the legacy of past online games. Threads relating to server restoration are not permitted on these forums. For information and FAQ's on getting games back online please see OF Project.

Pirated Software

Asking for, or posting links to download pirated software is not permitted. This also goes for game soundtracks. Please support the musicians and purchase the Original Soundtrack for your favorite games.

Selling Video Games on the Site

Do not advertise items you are trying to sell as a thread topic. If you wish to post this information, you can include it in your signiture as long as you are not a business.

Use JP or JPN please:

Some posters use the term "JAP" to refer to a Japanese game release. During World War II the term JAP was a racial slur heavily used by Americans toward the Japanese. The term "JAP" is a reflection of ignorance and hatred. Because of this, please use the abbreviations JP or JPN instead.

Phantasy Star Online can only be discussed in our Private PSO Area

For the moment PSO is not permitted for discusison in neither Public Forums nor the Support area. This is because we run an internal PSO gaming community.

Make your posts legible for others to read

Threads on the forum should be at a minimum of legibility so other members can comphrehend the post enough to formulate a reply.

Use proper punctuation by ending sentances with periods, question marks, and excalamation points.

Do not end every sentance with an excalamation point [!], otherwise it seems like you are yelling constantly.

Do not post entire titles or messages in all capital letters.

Obvious Forum Rules:

No Flaming - Insulting members, their interests, or games by name calling (ie. you suck, this game sucks)

No Trolling - Posting with intent to frustrate other members and de-rail discussions.

No URL SPAM - Use your signature area if you wish to promote a URL. Links to scams are not allowed anywhere on the website. This means no "WIN a FREE MP3 Player" or Play-Asia referral links.

Offtopic Exceptions

There are some instances where relative offtopic subject matter can be discussed. These exceptions are as follows:

Linked CONSOLE-to-HANDHELD

Topics on the NeoGeo Pocket Color are permitted, only in relation to Linking with the Dreamcast.

Topics on the GameBoy Advance are permitted, only in relation to Linking with the GameCube.

Topics on the Playstation Portable are permitted, only in relation to Linking with the Playstation 2.

Emulation

Discussing the emulation of classic games on the Dreamcast, GameCube or Playstation 2 is permitted, as long as the discussions focus on emulation performance and technical information. This topic shouldn't be used as a loophole to discuss every game ever made just because it can be emulated on these platforms.

It is okay to discuss the emulation of Dreamcast, GameCube or Playstation 2 games on the PC platform, via community coded software.

Leaked Games, Prototypes, etc

There are some exceptions to the piracy rule - Discussing and Linking to downloads for homebrew applications, dreamcast web browsers, and unreleased dreamcast games such as Half-Life, Propeller Arena, Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas, and PBA Bowling are permitted. You may link to any download location as long as the thread discussion does not deviate from the above subject matter.